Multiple students have reported seeing a “peeping Tom” looking through students’ windows in campus housing. 

A Public Safety bulletin board alert was sent out to students at 3:12 p.m. on Monday, May 3 by Director of Public Safety Ryan Anderson, alerting students of a report of a suspicious person in the non-traditional housing area next to campus.

The email encouraged students to lock their doors, keep house lights on, and make sure shades are closed all the way. 

A junior at Lindenwood, who Lindenlink will keep anonymous, said she lives in Linden Terrace housing and has caught the suspect multiple times looking in her window. 

“The first time that it happened it was on March 16,” she said. “I had just gotten out of the shower, and I walked back into my room and there’s a part of my shades that are partially broken, and covered as much I can cover them. 

“Then I was about to start changing and I just saw this guy staring in my window. And he had a mask and a hood on so I couldn’t really see that much but I made direct eye contact with him and he ran away.”

She described the suspect as wearing blue jeans and a grey hoodie with the hood up with a mask on.

She said after that, she reported it to campus security. She said that same day one of her friends saw a phone camera in the bottom corner of her window. 

She said on May 3, one of her roommates was coming around the back of their house and saw a man similar to the suspect description walking through their backyard. 

“She came in, and then about an hour later, the other roommate was cutting through the backyard to get back to our house and saw him standing there staring,” she said. “And we yelled at him, and he ran away again and we got campus security involved and the police involved.”

She said she didn’t know what type of crime the incident is listed as in the report she made. 

“The first time they just put a bulletin out for a suspicious person, and didn’t really say anything else besides that on the announcement,” she said. “This time, the police officer didn’t actually say what crime it was, and he kind of was just like, ‘well, you don’t really know, he could have just been looking for a friend’s house’ and kind of had that attitude about it.

“As far as I know, he didn’t make me write out a statement or make a report for it so I don’t know what they’re reporting it as.”

Her roommate, who will also remain anonymous, has also seen the suspect staring through their windows. 

“I didn’t see the first time that happened but I was walking home and I saw him staring at her through the window, and I kind of screamed at him,” she said. “But it was just super scary to think that something like that could actually happen on campus because it’s not really something you hear about very often I guess.”

She said campus security has been helpful through the situation. 

“The public security guy that we talked to yesterday was honestly super nice and helpful. He said that they were going to try to patrol more and just make sure that there wasn’t any suspicious activity or anything,” she said.

Public Safety declined to comment on the record.

Students are encouraged to call Public Safety & Security at 636-949-4911 if they see anything  suspicious or out of the ordinary.